Evaluation of deformation modulus of unreinforced and reinforced sandy soil layers using LWD device

Plate load test (PLT) is used frequently to evaluate the elastic modulus (E_PLT) of soils. However, this test is cumbersome, time-consuming and requires huge setup for reaction force. While Light Weight Deflectometer (LWD) devices are becoming very popular in earthwork quality control due to their swift evaluation of the deformation modulus (E_LWD) and non-destructive in nature. In this study, the effect of two contact pressures (q) to evaluate E_LWD were considered for both unreinforced and triaxial geogrid reinforced sandy soils were investigated, in order to successfully implement the use of LWD testing to replace plate load test (PLT). In addition, the correlations were proposed in terms of modulus improvement factors (MIF) of reinforced sandy soils. The findings show very good correlation of MIF obtained from these two tests.